Basket liner



26, 19350 T. R. MCDONALD 2,022,600

BASKET LINER Original Filed April I0, 1953 IN VEN TOR.

I W W ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BASKET LINERApplication April 10, 1933, Serial No. 665,447 Renewed September 9, 19353 Claims.

This invention relates to liners of the type used when packing fruit,vegetables and the like in containers such as a bushel basket in orderto prevent the fruit from becoming bruised or oth- "erwise marred bycontact with sides of the basket and one object of the invention is toprovide a liner formed from a single sheet of tough paper which willconform substantially to the inside diameter of the basket and when inuse have its end portions firmly secured in overlapped relation to eachother to prevent any danger of the end portions slipping out of theirproper positions and permitting contact of the fruit with walls of thebasket.

Another object of the invention is to provide end portions of the stripwith improved joints of such construction that while the strips will beinitially fiat, they can be quickly united to form a frusto-conicalliner which will not only retain its shape during use but also when aform is removed to permit a basket to be set in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and veryeffective when in use.

With these and numerous other objects in view, my invention consists inthe novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of partsas will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out inthe specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application:

Figure l is a view of a blank or strip from which a liner of theimproved construction is formed;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a liner formed from the stripillustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken vertically through Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a View of a modified form of blank or strip;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a liner formed from the strip shown inFigure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken vertically through Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a view of another modified form 01 blank or strip;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a liner formed from the stripillustrated in Figure v7; and

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken vertically through Figure 8.

A liner constructed in accordance with this invention is employed whenpacking fruit such as moved and a cover set in place and secured. 10

Since the shaper is removed in order to set the basket in place, it isimportant that the liner which is formed from an initially flat sheet oftough paper or similar material have its ends firmly secured and therebyprevent the liner from 15"..

opening and spilling the fruit. It is also important that end portionsof the liner remain united after the basket has been turned upright anda. cover applied as the fruit must be pre' vented from contacting withwalls of the basket :0

in order to prevent the fruit from becoming bruised or skin of the fruitbecoming torn by contact with sharp edges of thin strips of wood fromwhich the baskets are formed.

In the accompanying drawing, several embodi- 25 v ments of the inventionhave been disclosed. In each embodiment, the liner is formed from aninitially fiat strip of tough paper and referring to Figures 1, 4 and 7,it will be seen that this sheet or blank I is arcuate longitudinally.That 30 is to say, the side edges of the sheet constitute arcs of acircle extending parallel to each other and end edges are cut straightand converge in one direction. When a liner is to be used, end portionsof a blank or strip are moved towards each 35 other and united inoverlapping relation thereby forming a liner 2 which is open at its endsbut completely closed entirely about its circumference. It should alsobe noted that when the ends of the blank are united, a liner which is40' frustro-conical in shape will be formed and this liner will fitsnugly in a bushel basket with its walls in close contacting engagementwith walls of the basket. In view of the fact that end portions of theblank or strip are firmly interlocked, they 4511*- cannot slide awayfrom each other and permit fruit to contact with the walls of the basketand as the strip is formed from tough paper, it will not be torn by theweight of the fruit in the basket. 50 Referring particularly to Figures1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that one end portion of the blank or striphas been cut to form a slit 3 leading from the outer or upper side edgeof the blank while in spaced relation to the inner or lower side edge ofthe blank, there has been formed a slot 4 extending longitudinally ofthe blank. Therefore, the slit and slot extend transversely of eachother with one extending transversely of the blank and the otherlongitudinally thereof. The other end portion of the blank is cut asshown at 5 to form longitudinally extending tongues E5 and I havingdepending bills 8 and 9. Referring to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seenthat when the end portions of the blank are overlapped, the tongue 6extends through the slit 3 with its bill engaging the other end portionof the blank below the inner end of the slit and the bill 9 of the wideintermediate tongue or flap '5 projects downwardly through the slot i.The tongue or corner portion It) of the blank below the bill 9 bearsagainst the overlapping end portion of the blank beneath the slot 4 andassists in bracing the overlapping end portion of the blank. With theend portion of the blank so connected, they will be firmly held inoverlapping relation to each other and prevented from movinglongitudinally out of their overlapped position. Therefore, pressureexerted by fruit in a filled basket cannot cause the 3% united endportions of the liner to slip out of their proper position.

In Figures 4, 5 and 6, the blank has one end portion which is indicatedby the numeral II formed with slots I2 spaced from each othertransyersely of the blank and extending longitudinally thereof. Whilethree slots have been shown, it will be understood that any numberdesired may be employed. The other end portion [3 of the strip or blankis out from its end edge to form slits is extending diagonally at anupward incline and defining tongues 45 disposed at a downward inclineand having their free ends tapered to sharp points. By this arrangement,the tongues may be inserted through the slots I2 and serve ".veryeffectively to retain the end portions i I and I 3 of the blank or stripin overlapped engagement with each other.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 7, 8 and 9,the end portion [6 of the "blank is cut from its end edge as shown at Hito In each embodiment of the invention, the liner is formed from a blankwhich is initially flat and therefore a number may be cut from a stackof paper by a single stamping operation and also they may be formed intocompact packages for shipment and storage. It should also be noted thatwhen the liners are to be used, the end portions of the blanks may bevery easily and quickly united and when so united, they will be firmlyheld in overlapped relation to each other and prevented from slipping.Therefore all danger of fruit being damaged by end portionsof the linerseparating will be eliminated and also there will be no danger of thefruit spilling during transfer due to ends of the liner separating whena shaper is removed and a basket set in place.

From the foregoing description of the construc- 5 tion of myimprovedliner, the method of applying the same to use will be readilyunderstood. It will be seen that I haveprovided a simple, inexpensiveand efiicient means for carrying out the objects of the invention andwhile I have particularly described the elements best adapted to performthe functions set forth, it is obvious that various changes in form,proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to,

without departing from the spirit or sacrificing 15 with a slit leadingfrom a longitudinal edge of the g5 strip and adjacent the otherlongitudinal edge I being formed with a slot extending transversely ofthe slit, the other end portion of. said strip being out to form tonguesextending longitudinally of the strip and having bills facing trans- 30.i

versely of the strip, one tongue being passed through the slit with itsbill engaging the strip adjoining the inner end of the slit and theother tongue having its bill engaged through the slot.

2. A liner for use in packing fruit and the like 35 i comprising a stripof material bent to dispose its end portions in overlapped relation toeach other and form an open ended liner of a diameter to fit within abasket in close proximity to walls thereof, one end portion of saidstrip being formed with 0 1? a slit leading from the upperlongitudinal'edge of the strip and a slot being formed longitudinally ofthe strip adjacent the lower edge of the strip, the other end portionof'said strip being cut to form an upper tongue and a lower tongue, the455;

upper tongue being engaged through the slit and provided with adepending bill engaging the strip below'the inner end of the slit andthe lower tongue having a depending bill engaged through the slot andtogether with the bill of the upper 50' TI tongue holding the endportions of the strip against longitudinal movement out of overlappedrelation to each other.

3. A liner for use in packing fruit and the like comprising a strip ofmaterial bent to dispose its end portions in overlapped relation to eachother and form an open ended liner of a diameter to fit within a basketin close proximity to walls thereof, one end portion of said strip beingformed with passages extending transversely of each other and the otherend portion of the strip being cutto form tongues having bills bothextending transversely of the strip in the same direction and passedthrough the passages and engaging the strip adjacent ends of thepassages to retain the 5 end portions of the strip overlapped.

THOMAS R. MCDONALD.

